Skid Row

Skid Row is an area of downtown Los Angeles, California. First settled by seasonal laborers at the end of the 19th century, Skid Row was home to 10,000 homeless people, alcoholics, and other outsiders by the 1930s. From 1956 to 1960, the city destroyed nuisance properties at the expense of the owner, reducing the amount of free social services that it was obligated to provide to the people there. Skid Row remained a poor neighborhood decades later, with 41.8% of its population of 17,740 people (2000) living below the poverty line. 51.4% of the population was Hispanic, 26.7% African-American, 14.8% were white, 5.8% were Asian, 2% were multiracial, and .4% were Native American.